Tag Archives: Attorney General

Paxton threatens HISD over its COVID sick leave policy

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We live in such stupid times. Attorney General Ken Paxton and Republicans in the Legislature are taking aim at Houston ISD, arguing that the district’s COVID sick day policy violates state law. This academic year, Houston ISD is offering 10 … Continue reading →

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Feds warn about lawsuits to come over anti-trans legislation

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. The Department of Justice is warning states like Texas that policies meant to block transgender children from receiving gender-affirming care violate their constitutional rights. “Intentionally erecting discriminatory barriers to prevent individuals from receiving gender-affirming care implicates a number … Continue reading →

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Hispanic Policy Foundation: Abbott 50, Beto 42

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

More poll data. In the November 2022 gubernatorial election, Greg Abbott leads Beto O’Rourke by 8% (50% to 42%) among likely voters and by 12% (53% to 41%) among the most likely (almost certain) voters. Among both groups, Libertarian Mark … Continue reading →

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The dark side of redistricting litigation

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas is taking a big swing in defense of its gerrymanders, and if they connect it’s going to be devastating. Beyond the immediate legal fight over whether Texas lawmakers again discriminated against voters of color when drawing … Continue reading →

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Paxton accused of creating a hostile workplace for LGBTQ employees at the AG’s office

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

. However, the portion of the letter that detailed the lawyer’s allegations of political taint was redacted by the AG’s office, which provided the letter to us under the Public Information Act. We still hope to see that. — Chuck … Continue reading →

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Paxton “investigating” pharmaceuticals over puberty blockers

Posted on March 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Also from last week, I don’t know if this is something to worry about or just blowing smoke. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating two pharmaceutical companies — Endo Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie Inc. — for allegedly advertising puberty blockers … Continue reading →

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When a divorce helps to define a marriage

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting case. A gay San Antonio man has filed for a divorce in which he seeks to prove a common law marriage existed with his former partner of 25 years when federal law prohibited same sex marriage. The law has … Continue reading →

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Not just Beto for marijuana legalization

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The two Democrats in the runoff for Attorney General are also on board. As the May 24 runoff approaches, both Democrats in the runoff for Texas Attorney General have doubled down on their promises to legalize cannabis in the state. … Continue reading →

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A trifecta of crap from the Fifth Circuit

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s what they do. A federal appeals court has ruled for Texas in three lawsuits challenging the state’s voting laws, including mail-in ballot provisions and the elimination of straight-ticket voting. In a series of 2-1 rulings Wednesday evening, a panel … Continue reading →

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Texas sues to keep federal funds that would be denied for bullying trans kids

Posted on March 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The utter gall, it’s breathtaking. Texas is worried it could lose over a billion dollars in federal funding over Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive requiring medical professionals to report transgender children receiving gender-affirming health care as potential child abuse. Texas Attorney … Continue reading →

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More on Tina Linn and Harold Clouse

Posted on March 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Very moving stuff. Donna Casasanta picked through the brush in an overgrown patch of woods in northeast Harris County, looking. The 80-year-old mother had spent 40 years wondering. She had traveled 980 miles, driven with her grown children for three … Continue reading →

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It’s officially Garza and Jaworski in the AG runoff

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Glad that’s settled. Civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination for Texas attorney general on Thursday, clearing the way for top vote-getter Rochelle Garza to face Joe Jaworski in a May runoff election. More than … Continue reading →

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Longoria to resign as Election Administrator

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Ultimately for the best. Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria submitted her resignation Tuesday, about an hour and half after Judge Lina Hidalgo announced she intended to replace her following last week’s bungled primary contests. Longoria said her resignation would … Continue reading →

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How about a new Ken Paxton scandal?

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Funny how these things keep cropping up. It’s almost as if it were habitual or something. In late 2018, Conduent Business Services, the giant information company formerly part of Xerox, was on the edge of a financial cliff. For more … Continue reading →

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The Dem runoff for AG is not fully settled

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

First place in the Democratic primary for Attorney General went to Rochelle Garza. Second place is still somewhat of a question. Two days after election day in the March primary, the Democratic race for attorney general is still not settled. … Continue reading →

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A roundup of runoffs

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I was going to just do a basic recap of all the primary races that will require runoffs, and then this happened, and I had to do some redesign. U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, has decided to end his reelection … Continue reading →

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2022 primary results: Statewide

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

That didn’t take long: . JUST IN: Beto O’Rourke wins Texas Democratic primary for governor, @NBCNews projects. http://nbcnews.to/36VOfa3 — NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) 8:01 PM – 1 March 2022 Literally one minute after polls would have closed in El Paso. You … Continue reading →

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Final 2022 primary early voting totals

Posted on February 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s been a strange two weeks for early voting, so let’s get to the wrapup. Here are your final early voting totals. The table for comparison: Election Mail Early Total ================================ 2018 D 22,695 70,152 92,847 2018 R 24,500 61,425 … Continue reading →

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A handful of stories about statewide primaries

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s talk about Sarah. One November evening in far West Texas, Sarah Stogner decided to strip down to pasties and her underwear, plus boots and a cowboy hat, and climb onto an oil pumpjack while a small film crew watched. … Continue reading →

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DMN/UT-Tyler: Abbott 45, Beto 38

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From the DMN, via another source that I can get to. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is leading former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (R-Texas) by 7 points in a new poll tracking November’s gubernatorial race. The survey, conducted by The Dallas … Continue reading →

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I regret to inform you that Ken Paxton may not be an honest broker

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You should maybe be sitting down for this. The whistleblowers who sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after he fired them for accusing him of bribery and abuse of office are speaking out against him publicly for the first time … Continue reading →

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Hey, remember when disability rights advocates were worried about the voter suppression bill?

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They were right to be worried. Because of course they were. As polls opened up for early voting this week, disability advocates say they still do not have adequate guidance from the state about new voter assistance rules and worry … Continue reading →

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Republican incumbents are probably going to win their primaries

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Take all primary polls with a grain of salt because polling in primaries is especially tricky. That said, here’s the most recent UT/Texas Tribune polling on the primaries, which also includes a general election gubernatorial matchup. Republican incumbents in statewide … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Jaworski and more

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron finishes off the statewide races by endorsing Joe Jaworski in the primary for Attorney General. No question, Joe Jaworski would be a compelling candidate for Texas attorney general even if he weren’t the grandson of Texas legendary lawyer … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Almost all of the big ones

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Sunday Chron was full of endorsements, which given the timing and the edition is what you’d expect. Most of them are not particularly remarkable, and I’m not going to spend any time on their recommendations for Beto and Mike … Continue reading →

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Paxton files corrected finance report

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I feel duty-bound to note this. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a hotly contested primary, has filed a corrected campaign finance report after he did not disclose a large portion of his donors from the last six months … Continue reading →

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We’ll probably never know who Ken Paxton’s big campaign donors are

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

He has no interest in telling us, and there’s basically no mechanism to make him. Attorney General Ken Paxton recently announced a hefty $2.8 million campaign haul, showing the competition he can still raise big bucks while under FBI scrutiny. … Continue reading →

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Can the CCA withstand political pressure?

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope so. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judges’ phone lines and email inboxes have been flooded for more than a week by callers angry about a ruling last month that stripped Attorney General Ken Paxton of the authority to … Continue reading →

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Paxton thumbs his nose at open records demand

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Water is wet. The sun rises in the east. Ken Paxton DGAF about government, ethics, accountability or any of that other namby-pamby stuff. Attorney General Ken Paxton said the Travis County district attorney’s determination that Paxton violated open records laws … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks Supreme Court to toss that pesky whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same argument, different court. Either Ken Paxton can be held accountable, or he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the Texas Supreme Court to toss out a whistleblower lawsuit by … Continue reading →

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Paxton still wants to be supreme prosecutor

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Please hold firm, CCA. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the state’s highest criminal court to reconsider a recent decision that stripped his agency of the power to prosecute election law violations. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in … Continue reading →

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Three comments about three vaccine mandate news stories

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Item one: A U.S. district judge in North Texas has blocked a mask mandate and vaccine requirement for staff and students in the Head Start program that was issued by President Joe Biden. Head Start is a federal school readiness … Continue reading →

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From the “Keeping track of all these lawsuits is hard” department

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted on Democracy Docket: Today, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas denied a motion to dismiss Vote.org v. Callanen. The case, filed earlier this summer, challenges Texas’ “wet signature” law that requires individuals who submit … Continue reading →

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Apparently, we’re still litigating whether Texas Central is a railroad

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I admit, I’m a bit confused by this. The Texas attorney general’s office has put its weight behind a landowner’s case against the companies developing a controversial Dallas-Houston bullet train, arguing they can’t force people to sell parcels needed for … Continue reading →

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